Hardy Aponogeton Bulbs

[vinimack720]

i bought some "hardy aponogeton bulbs" from my lfs a few days ago for about 3 dollars, they are dried bulbs about 1/2 inch in diameter, the package says to just drop them in and they will start to grow in a few days. I dont know much about these plants(these are the only real plants i have added to my tank) and was wondering if any one else has used them. How long do they take to sprout? i have had a few in my tank for about 5 days and nothing has happened yet...do they need a lot of light? my lighting is pretty bad( a 15 watt flourecent tube and another 15 watt bulb, i know this falls far short of the 2 or 3 watt per gallon rule for my 75 gal tank but the package says that they are "easy to grow" and i thought this would be a nice treat for my fishies
thanks for any help you can give me

[Sprite42]

With those bulbs, it is a crap shoot. I have gotten some really nice plants and some are duds. It usually takes several days to two weeks from them to sprout. I just let them float until they sprout and then anchor (not bury) the bulb with the sprout side up.

Some will never sprout. If they show signs of mold or fuzzy growth, I remove them and throw them away. Some them never even sink to the bottom, while others sink immediately.

It is like a box of chocolates....you never know what you might get....

[vinimack720]

ok, ill keep watch on them

thanks for your help

[garfieldnfish]

I got the same experiences with them like Sprite described. I figure for the price, even with a few duds, it's still a good deal. I have low light in some of my tanks and they do ok there. Be prepared to buy a new pack every so often as they do not last all that long. Also, try a pack of dwarf lilies if you can. I like the looks of them even better. Once they sprout, they grow really fast, so you have a nicely planted tank in about 1 1/2 weeks.

[RockabillyChick]

i bought 7 bulbs, only 2 sprouted, the rest grew fuzzy stuff on them and i threw them out. the 2 that are growing now are doing good. one of them sprouted right away, maybe a week after i put it in. the other took a while, maybe 3 weeks to sprout.

[TheOldSalt]

You can also get these at WalMart.

Plopping a dozen in your tank will usually result in your tank becoming a jungle in under a month.

They grow under low light, but they grow more slowly.

They grow to fullsize, bloom ( they have flowers which bloom above the water ) and then they die back again. They are not dead. They are merely resting. If you wait a few weeks they should likely resprout & start all over again, but for better results, take them out of the water & let them dry out, and them return them to the tank in about a month.

If you rub the flowers together, you might get seeds. These seeds are very tiny and very difficult to notice, but you can get new plants that way when they sprout.

[Damon]

Aponogetons may never die off, depending on the species (undulatus or crispus is what you find in these pkgs.). You can pollenate them yourself with a makeup brush but fish will eat the seeds. Very easy undemanding plant to grow.

[flamingo]

THe ones I go from a long time ago died off a while ago. I put them in cold water for 2 weeks, then returned them to the tank and they grew like crazy, just a little tip lol.

Smae for me, Out of like 6 I get maybe one or two good ones. The ohter ones just get white and die.

[Damon]

When they die off, wrap them in a moist towel and sit them on a constant heat source (like a cable box) They will sprout again in a cpl of weeks. Some strains still have the dormancy period, but most dont.

[Ownager2004]

Ive tried these a few times. Before using flourish excel I got about half to sprout. After using flourish excel for awhile I added some recently and half sprouted in the first 3 days. I added CO2 early today and all have sprouted now.

I grew these when I had like a 5 year old 15 watt bulb over a 10 gallon with nothing added. They are a very easy plant to grow(bought all mine at wal-mart by the way... the bulbs).

Ive also heard if you do not let the flower reach the surface(cut it) that the plant will grow indeffinately. Which did work for the wal-mart bulbs that I have purchased in the past.

[Damon]

Correct. The flower is the plant preparing for the cold season. It drops seed (hopefully), and when spring comes again, they will produce new plants. I'm still curious as to where the bulb originally comes from.

[vinimack720]

yea, i bought my at walmart too, they have been in their for about a week and a few have sprouted a small stem, but the trouble is that i think my goldfish keep biting at the stem! im guessing this will deffinetly affect its growth. Any sugestions?

[Damon]

Remove the goldfish....................

[Nowatzki]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

You can also get these at WalMart.

Plopping a dozen in your tank will usually result in your tank becoming a jungle in under a month.

I bought a package of these "Easy to Grow" Hardy Aponogeton Bulbs at WalMart a month ago, and NONE of the six bulbs ever showed any signs of sprouting. Sending the bulbs back to Sea-Life, Inc., (the originating company) might cost me more than the $2.97 I paid for them, but I think I will do it anyway, because otherwise they are making money off selling people a bunk product.

[flamingo]

Old thread.........

If you place them in your tank (and they don't grow fungus) you could wait months before they ever grow. The packet I bought decided to grow one day, 2 months after being in the tank.

[Maece]

When the fungus started growing on my bulbs, my platies ATE it! So - if the bulb still seems solid, is the fungus really a problem?

Also, on the package for the smaller bulbs, I believe that the instructions said to plant under the substrate for faster growth. The packaging for the bigger bulbs specifically said to allow them to free-float until they sprouted. I didn't save the packaging, but I did save the receipt - do you think I could still return them?

How long should I wait for sprouting? I'm at about 1.5 weeks now, and haven't seen anything other than some white fungus (which my fish seem to be taking care of).